Shadow Heist
---- Breaking into the Amaryllis Museum of Hargeon was not the most difficult challenge Mia Nayavinsky had been faced with. In fact, the method she used to infiltrate reminded her of how she had swiped a novel from Nero's private office as a test in her mid-teens. The air in the vents was stale and the mask she wore to conceal her face made each breath she took feel more shallow. Mia shimmied her way to position, energy tingling through her body as she dissipated into smoke-like shadow. Her body, if you could even call it that, wafted down through the grate in the vent, minuscule particles of shadows falling to the floor of the hall. She rematerialized a moment later. She studied the case. Inside was a large tome, deep rich blue in color with gold binding and oceanic designs across it. Supposedly, it was held secrets of a long-dead magic art, not that Mia cared that much about the content. She kneeled in front of the case, fitting a tension wrench, followed by a pick, into the lock. Mia applied pressure to the wrench, scrubbing the pick until it caught. With a soft click, the lock turned. Mia opened the case and slid the tome into her knapsack. The blare of an alarm reverberated off the walls in the open hall. Shit. Mia stood, whirling around quickly to see a dark figure standing in the doorway. A bright flash lit up the room, followed by a metallic clink. The vent Mia had used to break in had been sealed by a thick metal plate, which bolted to the ceiling. Similar obstructions closed off the windows, floor vents, and doors, sealing them in. "So..." A man stepped forward, illuminated by the red light of the alarm boxes in each corner of the room. He looked to be in his late twenties to early thirties, with short brown hair and wearing a rust-colored Hawaiian shirt. He massaged the back of his neck, looking like there where a hundred places he'd rather be at one o'clock in the morning. "I don't suppose you'll be a good sport and just put that back, will you?" Mia smiled briefly under her mask, "No." Nadralya slid from its sheath. Mia swung the sword from her hip, releasing it when it was level with her head and grabbing ahold of the attached ribbon. The blade swung through the air while Mia's arm and magic guided it a devastating overhead arch towards his shoulder. The man sank to the ground, and a pair of spears burst forth to intersect the blow. The blade stopped above his head, caught between the crossed spears. "Man, so hostile..." He said with a toothy grin. "Alright, have it your way." He slapped his hands together, causing a dull grey flash to light up the room. The next moment, a barrage of weapons filled the air between them. Knives, throwing stars, razors, even what looked like a sharpened rail spoke, all raced towards Mia. One moment she was there, the next she was a phantasm of shadow, racing across the darting across the floor and up a wall, reforming on the rail of a balcony. The weaponry collided with the ground and display cases, splintering glass and scraping against the floor. "You may want to be careful, you're one of the good guys, remember?" Mia commented dryly. "Ain't you the one who broke in here, kid?" He gave half a chuckle. Noting that she had a point though, surrounded by scuffed up floors and broken glass, his grin shrunk a bit. "Normally, first meetings warrant introductions." He said, trying to deflect. "I'm Rift. What's your name, kid?" "Telling you that defeats the purpose of anonymity." She extended her hand, raising it with two fingers outstretched. Underneath Rift, an inky black magic seal formed and the ground turned black, sinking underneath him to swallow him whole. "Woah-." A spiderweb of chains loosed from Rift's hand, anchoring into the ceiling. Using this, Rift pulled free of the void that had open up below him. He landed on top of a large display case, planting his fist in the palm of his hand. "Iron-Make: Chains!" Just as before, thick chains flew across the room, each tipped with some form of dagger or hook, looking to keep Mia in place. A long ribbon shot forward, weaving in front of her in a loose shield-like manner before it snapped into steel-like rigidity, moving to block the projectiles as they shot forward. The chains clattered against the abnormally strong fabric, crumpling downward after the failed assault. Mia retaliated, the ribbon spitting itself into several ribbons, shooting forward at Rift a confusing pattern, all with the aim to entrap him. Rift dropped, slamming his hand to the floor. Iron Make: Band-saw!" In that instant, a flurry of thin, flexible metal strips lashed out in all directions. As they entangled through Mia's ribbons, where their serrated edges ripped them to shreds. As the remains of the clash fell around him, Rift got up to laugh. "Hey, you're trying to copy me." Despite being on the job, it didn't seem like Rift took this, or anything else, seriously. "Wanna' come down here? Because I think we'll be at this all night at this rate." Mia denied a response, instead, lunging out again with Nadralya. She swung the ribbon downward. The blade whizzed through the air with the soft hiss. It was like a serpent in her hand, arching down to cleave into his shoulder. With a huff, Rift dove forward, leaving Mia's blade to reverberate off the ground. "Iron Make: Springboard!" He threw out what looked like a folded bear trap, which launched him up to Mia's perch when he stepped on it. "Have it your way." He grinned, crafting a broadsword in his hand and swinging it over his shoulder in a downwards chop. Mia extended her arm without missing a beat, the ribbons lacing her forearm tightening to a steel-like texture. The broadsword hammered down, catching the brace while Nadralya swung back into her other hand. She attacked quickly, taking advantage of the positioning of his deflected blade to slash at his torso. Rift's grin widened, and another weapon jumped into his other hand to deflect the blow. It was shorter than the last, and only had a single edge, resembling a saber. Rift held backhanded, bracing it between his hand and his elbow to deflect Mia's strike. Using his superior stature, Rift stepped into the strike and threw Mia away, flinging his broadsword after her. She skittered across the ground, regaining balance as friction burned her hands. The sword narrowly missed her head. Mia narrowed her eyes. It was time to reconsider her plan. He was obviously equal or greater to her in skill, the fight would be dangerous and might not result in her favor. Keeping up the assault, Rift discarded his saber and clasped his hands together above his head. A pair of disks grew between them, which rapidly took shape and grew when Rift tossed them downwards. "Iron Make: Buzzsaw!" Two large saw-blades raced across at Mia, the teeth of their blades emitting an ungodly racket against the metal walkway. Mia grit her teeth and snapped. A wave of darkness emanated from her like a flood, washing the entire hall in pitch smog-like darkness. The wave knocked the buzzsaws to the side and Mia promptly phased into darkness, the particles of her body invisible in the smog. Mia quickly reached the blocked door of the room, re-materializing. She pried open a crack in the metal plate with Nadralya, which shrieked at the effort. Air from the outside sputtered in and Mia disappeared into darkness. As she left, the wave of darkness followed, thinning into fog before disappearing completely. Rift dove after her the second the darkness cleared, having shielded his face in anticipation if some sort of new attack. he ran to the door he previously sealed, prying it, and some of the wooden door siding to the ground. On the other side however, wasn't Mia, but the museum's head of security with a trio of guards in tow. "What...?" He gasped in surprise, as they all scratched to a halt. "What happened!?" Rift glanced down the hall, but Mia was nowhere in sight. He expected no less; seeing how fast she could travel in that shadow form of hers, she was likely already long gone. He took a look back at the exhibit room ,and the mess of metal debris and shattered glass that littered the floor. He swore under his breath when he heard the security guards all gasp, prepping himself for a conversation he knew he wouldn't enjoy. "So..." He began, turning around with the best attempt at a smile he could muster. "It's not as bad as it looks?" END Category:Roleplay Category:RP